Day 365 - Flower and Envelope

Thought of the day: This morning, when I am walking under the brilliant sun on the trail, surrounded by rocky mountains and fall colors, I feel intensely happy. With my birthday coming up tomorrow, I have a feeling that I am entering the prime time of my life. Everything is so perfect at this moment that it seems fleeting and fragile. Somehow happiness always manages to bring out melancholy in me. Perhaps it's time to look outside of my own little world more often. The best way to maintain true inner peace and equilibrium of mind is to change the focus to the world at large. I have been exploring different paths for a few years now and the right path remains elusive to me. Lately I have the luck of being recommended by multiple people a book called "Half the Sky" by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. The book documents the plight of many women in the real world. It's a thoroughly researched and immensely touching and convincing book. It's one of those rare books that can move people into action, one that has the potential to shape and change the world. I don't know where it will lead me, but wherever it is, I will be there willingly.


Photo of the day:

A surprise gift from a friend. I have been told by many people that love and happiness are the essential ingredients of life and they are all you need. I don't know. I always feel like there's a third ingredient, a larger purpose of life. Without the third ingredient, I can't help feeling that something is amiss.

Day 341 - Pink

Thought of the day: Aspen was a great place to visit once in a while but it didn't feel like home to me. Since the town was pretty small, the choice of stores was pretty limited. I left part of my camera battery charger at home and I had been shopping around for the replacement part all around town but couldn't find one.  The only camera store in town didn't carry it either.  It was pretty costly to live here, too. I think I would feel stranded living in a town like this, even one as beautiful as Aspen, for a long time. In any case, after a couple of days of visit, I was happy to return home to Boulder today.

Photo of the day:

Lila holding a pink umbrella on a lawn in Boulder. She was happy to be back home again too.

Day 303 - Roses

Thought of the day: College students are coming back in town this week.  You can tell that by the increasing number of visitors in the cafes and the long lines at the front desks of popular restaurants.  The town seems to have woken up from a lazy summer slumber. You can really feel the energy in the air. On one hand, it's invigorating to have all these young people back in town.  On the other hand, it's a bit frustrating to experience these extra delays in traffic and hour long waits for dinner.  By living in a college town in Colorado where the students make up a quarter of the population, in addition to going through the cycle of seasons, we go through the cycle of the comings and goings of college students. With these two concurrent cycles, "the wheel of time turns, and years come and pass…leaving memories" that will become us and experiences that will define us.

Photo of the day:

A bunch of beautiful roses in Lila's preschool - a thoughtful gift from a student's parents.  It really brightened up the room - a nice symbol of a fresh beginning.

Day 295 - Paper Flower

Thought of the day: I had the opportunity to meet a few old friends during this trip. It was fun to catch up with them again. It was interesting to share stories and listen to their hopes and dreams.  The more people I meet and talk to over the years, the more I am convinced that we all face similar challenges.  No matter how different we may look on the surface and how different our paths of lives may seem, we have a lot in common in our core values and aspirations. There's something to be said about that.

Photo of the day:

A wall decoration inside a cafe with my mom's bike parked outside - I borrowed it today to meet a friend there.

Day 286 - Lila

Thought of the day: Our traveling got more exciting last afternoon after Jasmine found Francis - a New Zealand girl of her age - to play with and we made acquaintance with her mother and uncle who were traveling with her.  The train provided ample opportunities for people to get to know each other and socialize if they were up for it.  The small space helped.  For example, as the dining cars were packed, strangers were often seated together and were almost "forced" to socialize.  People also found company in the observation car and in the cafe.  Jasmine, Francis and Lila were never separated after they got to know each other.  They walked up and down the cars, squealed in delight, played games and had a great time together. As you can tell, we were getting used to the life on the train.  But even when we were getting used to the rhythm and breathing of the moving beast and getting used to the everchanging landscape, a travel weariness was slowly creeping into our bodies.  When we left the train at Emeryville, it felt soooo good to be standing on solid ground again.  The girls had a hard time saying goodbye to their new friends.  We left our contact information but I wonder if we would ever hear from them again...

Photo of the day:

Lila playing in grandparents' yard.  She was happy to have more space to run around again.

Day 281 - "Soup"

Thought of the day: I observed a father and a girl in a local cafe this morning.  The cafe was pretty quiet and calm because the interior and ambiance catered to college students and they were still out of town for the summer.  The father was working intentively on his Mac, while the girl was reading a Harry Potter book and chewing on her necklace.  Both of them seemed to be very focused and lost in their own world.  There was a serenity and harmony in this picture.  I had the strange feeling of wanting to tiptoe around this pair lest their peacefulness be disturbed.  I also left the camera in my bag - moments like this were to be savored and not to be intruded.

Photo of the day:

Girls collected "treasures" in the backyard and made up this pretty "soup" which was subsequently stirred and "cooked".  They apparently spent much happy time doing that.  I was not there but at least I got to capture the final product on camera.

Day 246 - Lila and Garden

Thought of the day: One of my favorite things to do after lunch is to take a walk with Lila in the streets and trails of Niederweningen. It's practical as she would often run and play on the way and by the time we are heading home, her steam will typically run out and give way to drowsiness and will eventually fall into a peaceful nap on the stroller. Today we took such an excursion again. When I watched Lila play and listened to her mumble to herself, I was touched by her toddler-ly innocence and the utter lack of self-conciousness. Her entire being radiated an envious, pure, unspoiled joy. For her, a flower was as absorbing as the entire world and a moment was no different from the eternity. How did she manage to stay in this blissful state of being? I guess I should not use the word "manage" because this state of being is in her, is her, naturally. Only the grownups need to "manage" as our minds are often so cluttered that we tend to forget our true self. We painstakingly seek the meaning of life when the meaning of life is life itself. We fruitlessly search for the elixir of life when there're no meaningful differences between a moment and the eternity. I am learning a lot by spending time with Lila. I will never have enough of that. And I need that, too.

Photo of the day:

Lila playing in a garden near the Niederweningen church during our walk this afternoon.

Day 189 - Tree and Bike

Thought of the day: Today I went out and shot some of my favorite flowering trees.  They didn't come out exactly the way I'd like, but at least it was a fun experience.  After all, what's a better way to spend a sunny day then spending it outdoors?

Photo of the day:

This is one of the flowering trees that I shot this morning along the Broadway bike path.

Day 183 - Spring

Thought of the day:  It was a beautiful day to enjoy the spring with two of my dearest friends.  It was rainy in the early morning and windy at night, but the weather during the day was just perfect.  Because of the rain, the Flatirons were misty in the morning, and the air was clear, the grass was green and the spring flowers were in vivid display everywhere.  But my friend put it well: a beautiful landscape without people or other living creatures in it would be lacking a soul.  In the same way, a life without friends would be lacking and incomplete as well.  If we make each other's lives more fulfilled and interesting, we would have accomplished an important part of our mission on earth.

Photo of the day :

A empty path waiting for people to step on.  I think the expectation itself is giving the scenery a soul.

Day 171 - Daisy

Thought of the day: Our neighborhood has an annual progressive dinner event which we have joined for a few times.  Tonight we just had this year's progressive dinner.  The appetizer course was hosted in our home, just like last year, where everybody met for the appetizer before heading off to different homes for the next courses.  After having soup, salad and main entree in three different homes, everybody met again for dessert in another neighbor's home and concluded the evening.  It is a fun tradition which we always enjoy when we are able to participate.  It's a good opportunity to meet people, some of whom we will otherwise not have a chance to meet even though we all live in the same neighborhood.  One thing I observed tonight was that I was the only non-white person in the party - a situation that I had grown so used to in Boulder that I only realized it after the party was over.  There were a few other immigrant families present but they were all from Europe.  Come to think of it, I have only met a single non-white person in the past years of progressive dinners.  It was an Asian woman who became a friend of mine but she moved away two years ago.  Boulder is not a very diverse city, to say the least.  It was so ten years ago and, according to the latest census, it was still so today, despite of the national and state-wide trend of getting more diverse.  Another thing I observed tonight was that there were quite a few overachievers in the neighborhood, and some were more pleasant to talk to than others.  I think what makes a difference is the degree of humility.  A humble overachiever can be really interesting to talk to as you can have a two-way conversation where you get to hear some interesting stories and you get to share some of your own lowly thoughts too.  A not-so-humble overachiever can be self-centered, overbearing and difficult to communicate with.  I suppose this can happen no matter you overachieve or not, but it does demonstrate that being successful doesn't make you a wise person.  It takes a wise person to remain humble and it takes a humble person to be compassionate.  I wonder if this contributes to the curious statistics that while average Boulder residents make more money than average Colorado residents, we are less generous in giving.  I suspect this phenomenon will get worse before it gets better because the housing is Boulder is not getting more affordable comparing to the rest of the state and we may end up attracting even more overachievers to the city in the foreseeable future.

Photo of the day:

One of the daisies we used to decorate the tables for the progressive dinner.

Day 139 - Car Light

Thought of the day: Doing this blog gives me a challenge, and pleasure, of finding and capturing the beauties of life every day.  On lucky days, a beautiful scene would just present itself at an opportune moment and I can just grab the camera and shoot.  On other days, I need to go out of the way to look for something interesting to shoot.  Today was one of those "other" days.  There were actually quite a few memorable moments throughout the day - horses on an idyllic pasture, a brightly dressed child on a misty, green meadow, stunning sunset silhouette of cottonwoods - but unfortunately I could only capture them with my eyes but not the camera for practical reasons.  So, when it was getting late and I still didn't have a single photo on my camera, I decided to go for a jog and shoot in the dark - a challenging task for me as the light was the biggest source of inspiration for my photos.  But luckily, even with the natural lights gone, we humans created enough artificial lights to keep ourselves safe and comfy at night that I was able to accomplish my task for the day.

Photo of the day:

Cars, street, and trees with blossoms of early Spring.

Day 134 - Red Anthurium

Thought of the day: Today I was trying to figure out what to do with clothes that Lila had outgrown.  The best option is, of course, to give them away to people we know.  We have been doing that over the years but unfortunately we seem to know far more baby boys than girls and most of her clothes are not suitable for boys.  Other options are consignment stores where you humbly wait for a clerk to pick through your clothes and reject most of them because they are not brand name items, or Craigslist that is more hassle than it's worth for clothes, or yard sales where buyers expect to pay next to nothing for things - which would be ok if not for the time and energy a yard sale typically consumes.  Finally, you can always give them away to charities.  However, there is a myriad of charities to choose from - EFAA, The Parenting Place, YWCA, Casa de la Esperanza, and a bunch of not-for-profit thrift stores, each with its own charitable focus and efficiency level.  And that's just for kids clothes.  What about adult clothes, furniture, books, toys, electronics, cars, etc?  Donating used goods is more than just getting rid of them.  In the same way that you don't just give cash away to a random person on the street, you want to donate your goods to the right charity and get the most usage out of them.  What we need is a web site that connects donors to local charities with ease.  The web site would provide information on charities including their missions and ratings, the charities would indicate what they need at the moment, the donors would indicate what they want to donate, and the best matches between the donors and the charities would then be made.  I think people may be more open to the idea of donating their things if it becomes easier.

Photo of the day:

A red flower against a window frame.  Simple and beautiful - as everything should be.